Why is Giroro cuter than Tamama? A lesson in juxtaposition

You must think I'm crazy for thinking that this:

...is cuter than this:

But I assure you, I am quite sane...oK, no I'm not, but I still figured it out.


So before I get into this any more, I'll give you some background information.

Giroro (the red one) is part of the Keroro Platoon; he is the designated toughguy complete with guns, a deep voice and some fierce facial expressions. He is also quite in love with Hinata Natsumi. Therefore, Giroro is very protective of her, and also blushes at times.

Tamama (the blue one) is the youngest of the Platoon, and he is the cutie of the group. As if being the maknae wasn't enough, he has big eyes and an adorable voice. And another thing, he has this sort of...condition I guess? One minute he's cute and bubbly, and the next, he's shouting and "Tamama Impact"-ing the nearest thing.

So how is this relevant? Let's see...

You can't not get a first impression when you first see, hear, smell, touch and even taste something/someone. Whatever you do, that first impression will leave an...impression; the first judgement of whatever/whoever. And what was our first impression of Giroro? Fierce. Tough. Cool. We would have never thought that a girl would make him go weak in the knees. But when he does, through the power of juxtaposition, he seems much more fragile and vulnerable than someone who is fragile and vulnerable by nature, like Tamama. And that cuteness is the kind I can tolerate much more than straight-out aegyo.

And with that, I would like to start on my other point. If you have a first impression that someone is cute, then when they do something sexy, it becomes so much sexier. Proof? Yoseob who is very cute doing a sexy dance. He always gets labeled as cute, but when he does something like that, it seems so sexy because it contrasts with his image.

Juxtaposition, with all its glorious uses, could also be applied badly. One such case is Sungmin. Everyone gushes about his cuteness on camera or on stage, but that's not the way he is in real life. Ergo, when people see or meet him and he's not overflowing with aegyo like they expect him to be, they feel he's cold or mean, when it's just possible he's acting normal. That's why fans tell him to be nicer, or sweeter, which I think is ridiculous.

Basically, juxtaposition can be very effective when used properly. But keep in mind that there are unfortunate instances like Sungmin.